RYAN Cresswell has flown back from Madrid to finalise a deal with Fleetwood Town, it was revealed late last night.
Southend United have accepted a bid, thought to be a six-figure fee, for the goalscoring defender, who revealed earlier in the summer he would be keen to return to the north of England.
His favoured destination was thought to be Chesterfield, but the Spireites offered a paltry £25,000 for the defender’s services, a bid so derisory that Blues considered reporting the Derbyshire side to the Football League.
York City were also interested earlier in the summer but the Yorkshireman now looks certain to join Fleetwood Town, who have spent heavily during the summer to try and gain promotion.
Ryan Cresswell is likely to join Fleetwood this week.
With less than two weeks to go until the first game of the season, Phil Brown has moved quickly to try and plug the gaping hole in the centre of Southend’s defence, and has invited former Nottingham Forest and Sheffield Wednesday defender Julian Bennett to join the squad at their Madrid training complex.
Bennett is a free agent since leaving Hillsborough at the end of last season, and is a tough-tackling defender who is comfortable on the left or in the centre of the back line.
The 28-year-old Nottingham-born Bennett began his career with Walsall, before joining then-League One Forest, where he played 110 games in five years alongside Shrimpers’ goalkeeper Paul Smith.
However, a serious injury sustained in 2008 kept him out for a lengthy period of time and he was released by Steve McClaren, whereupon he joined the Owls, where he made just 25 appearances in two years. He had a loan spell at Shrewsbury in December which was cut short when he sustained an injury to his back.
He is set to line up as Southend take on Real Madrid’s third side at their Valdebebas stadium tomorrow morning.
All At Sea Fanzine 
Leave a Reply